David Smith has always had a love for recycling, and as the recycling coordinator of MSU’s Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, he can put that love to use.
Smith began his career as an undergraduate at Western Michigan University where he studied biology and environmental science. After graduation, he began working at an environmental engineering firm where he would do soil and water sampling and working with areas of contamination. From there, he started his 15-year career with the city of East Lansing, dealing with recycling and solid waste issues. When he left three years ago, he began working at MSU.
A normal day-to-day as recycling coordinator can comprise of anything. One day for Smith may consist of working outside doing special events, and the next can be all meetings inside. His mornings generally start out with meetings with the rest of the staff, deciding what the day will contain and what they want to focus on. Afterwards, the day could go in any direction. This could include doing research, looking at things like ways to boost recycling or looking into different markets for recycled materials.
A unique aspect of Smith’s job is the fact that it includes such variety. “One day I can be working with the ESPN staff on game day, working on recycling at an event like that,” said Smith. “At the other end of the spectrum, I do things like waste sorts in our material recovery facility where we’re literally looking at what’s being generated as far as trash in our buildings, and then trying to figure out how much of that waste stream can be diverted.”
So what is Smith’s favorite thing about working at MSU? The students. “My favorite thing about MSU is working with the students,” Smith said. “It’s just such a lively, energetic atmosphere. It’s very creative; a lot of great minds are here. There are fresh perspectives of how to solve different problems. It’s just a fun, energetic place to work.”